Subtitles in QNAP TS-453Be

Plex Media Server NAS & Devices
1

First of all, i reckon i am stupid since i have read the forums for nearly 3 weeks and still dont understand :smiley:

Simple question: I am on a Mac enviroment. Movies will be streamed throught airport express. All my movies are in m4v format with subtitles.

Will the QNAP TS-453 Be work for me? I still dont understand if i need transcoding or not. Once again, my media is M4V, 1080p and will be only streamed through apple tv 4

Thanks for taking the time to read this

Cheers

2

The TS-453 Be will do a great job handling the video itself because it has hardware assist (if you have a PlexPass to enable it).

Subtitles always require the CPU (there is no HW support for subtitles out there yet).
This is where you’ll run into problems.

If the subtitles are text based (SRT, ASS, or SSA names), the apps will overlay them on your screen ok.

If they are image based (names: PGS, VOBSUB, DVDRIP) then the CPU has to merge those images with the video image. That’s where it gets messy. The CPU is easily overloaded and playback can get sluggish.

If you take time and curate the media to have only those subtitle formats you need and want, you’ll have a good experience.

There is a lot of info to absorb. It does take time.
Don’t let it get you down. Go slow, read, try, learn. you’ll get there.

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First of all, thank you for taking the time to answer. Honestly i am from south america and Nas are quite expensive in here. Didnt want to spend money on something that wont work.

Now, just to clarify. All my subtitles are inside M4v containers, all are srt format. I wont need to transcode to my iphone.

If i understood correctly, this should work fine? Without movies freezing on my apple tv?

Once again, thank you Chuck. You are the reason i am buying the plex pass.

4

If you set the apps to burn “Image formats only”, it will provide you the best performance.

Before you make the purchase, I suggest you look around the forum at the successes and the problems.

The more you know before you start, the better you can start at the beginning.

There is a QNAP FAQ to help plus there are many of us here to offer help.

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5

I found it best to hardcode my forced subtitles so there is never a need to have the cpu burn them live.

If you will always be using a subtitle you may want to consider the same.

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And what if i were to use the Nas only as external storage and run the server on the imac? Would i have any kind of trouble with my current files? I dont feel like reconverting a 3k movies library to hardcode subtitles :frowning:

So i buy any nas and i run the server on the imac, would that work just fine?

Cheers

7

If you use a different computer to run the server, the computational needs of the NAS drop significantly. It only needs the power to read / write the network at whatever peak speed you have demands for.

An ARMv8 system will do an excellent job at that with multiple concurrent gigabit connections. It isn’t the strongest Media Server but it’s one heck of a file server.

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Wow. You cant imagine how much money you saved me. Thanks your very much for all your help and taking the time to answer me.

I am buying the cheapest 4 bay qnap out there, run the server on my imac and fill it with media (with srt subtitles not harcoded).

Of course i ll be also buying a plex pass. I feel its the least i can do after your help

Once again, thank you very much!!!

9

I know how expensive those things are.

I have a fully loaded up QNAP TVS-1282 with i7-7700 / 32 GB,
10 GbE, PCIe 1TB cache, and all the drives loaded. AKA: “Beast !”

I could afford to do it at that time so I did. It will last me a very long time.

If you can afford to get more bays, try to get more.
If you’re like most of us, you’ll find yourself starting to collect more media.

It’s always cheaper to add or replace a drive than it is to buy a new chassis.

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One last question
 The nas will be hooked up to my airport express right? Only asking cos of the usb ports and stuff. Just an ethernet cable right?

11

My Airport has one port coming out (the big base model they made)

You might want to get a small unmanaged gigabit switch.

it would be wired: (all ethernet cable)

Internet -> Modem/Router -> Switch

The NAS, your Airport, and iMac would also be plugged into that switch.

Counting ports:

  1. Internet Modem/Router
  2. Airport
  3. NAS
  4. iMac

You need at least a 4 port. Look at the prices for 4, 5, and 8 port.
They should be inexpensive enough.

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Hope someone is learning too from this cos I sure am (once again thank you)

But now i am confused lol

I have a main modem/router that is connected to my airport express.

All the apple tvs and the Imacs are wireless. So far so good

So i buy the 4 bay nas, keep the plex server on my imac, hook the Nas to the airport express via Usb or ethernet cable i suppose.

But why do i need to connect de Imac to the airport express via ethernet?

Lol i know you must be tired of my questions. If you ever come to Argentina, i ll buy you a drink :smiley:

Cheers

13

If you weren’t confused, I’d be annoyed! LOL

Right now , everything is wireless. That’s about to change.

Here’s why. Please forgive my keyboard graphics:

                         |
                         V
                     +-------+
                     | Modem |
                     +-------+
                         |
                         V
                     +-------+
                     | switch|
                     +-------+
                      | | | |
                      | | | |      +--------+
  (unused)  <---------+ | | +----->| Airport|  ......>  All Wifi is out here
                        | |        +--------+
                        | |
     iMac   <-----------+ +-------->  NAS

The Switch now becomes the central component of all your networking.

  1. The modem/router brings it in and sends it out
  2. The Airport sends to the WiFi devices and receives from them
  3. The NAS and iMAC get direct access to the core

If you don’t need wired for the iMac (but i strongly recommend you do for PMS), then it lives on WiFi.

In this configuration, The NAS and iMAC can do whatever they want without interfering with anything on the WiFi.

Trace the paths:

  1. WiFi -> Switch -> Internet (to watch YouTube)
  2. iMAC -> Switch -> Internet
  3. NAS -> Switch -> iMac -> Switch -> Airport -> TV (playing Plex )

Yes the switch can do all that work without problems at 1 GbE.

See it now?

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LMAO

Now I am officially lost

Lets see

First, I ll tell you my devices so we can understand better.

My internet comes from a router that is supposed to have wi-fi Sagecom is the brand and I just checked and it has on the back 4 connectors for ethernet. (Here is a picture of the connector) https://articulo.mercadolibre.com.ar/MLA-817879275-router-wifi-sagemcom-fast-3686-_JM

There is currently one in use that is connected to the airport express. For some reasons I don’t remember, when they installed it they put it on bypass or something like that, so what gives internet to all the rest of the devices is the airport express.

On different rooms I have 2 atv4 and one laptop (MacBook Air)

On the same room of the wifi, lies the iMac (which will work as Plex server) but far from the router and the airport express. Like 4 meters away.

So basically now I need to buy the Nas (btw thinking of purchasing the QNAP Ts431 which is really cheap and comes with 4 bays), and a switch to connect the iMac, The airport, and the Nas to it? Is that correct? All those connections via ethernet cables?

Can I use the 3 unused ethernet ports of the sage com instead?

Cheers

15

I know the Sagemcom well.

By them turning off the WiFi, the airport can be WiFI master. That’s best. Sagemcom wifi is not good.

YOu can use the 3 remaining ports on the back of it and let the Sagemcom be your switch.

4 meters for ethernet is not far. :slight_smile: Ethernet is easily good for 100m without special consideration.

Do you feel like hiding the cables?

The problem with WiFi is very simple: It is radio.

  1. Only one device can talk at a time whether it be the Airport or the device itself.
  2. Any other device which wants to talk has to wait.
  3. They also often collide . Both try to talk at the same time. They collide. Now there is a random delay. Whoever gets to start talking next wins.

When wired, both can talk at the same time. Both directions can also talk at the same time (Full duplex). WiFi is Half-duplex (one at a time)

When wired, you could be:

  1. Sending from the iMac at full speed = 100 MB/sec
  2. WiFi could transmit that
  3. Receiving from the NAS at full speed into the iMac = 100 MB/sec

You have that much capability but, which you will notice immedately, smoother performance overall.

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My friend
i hope this conversation is useful for others.

As far as i am concerned (and i didnt know nothing about connections, Nas and transcoding), i now feel i ll be capable of buying the proper devices and to understand why i need it. You did a wonderful job!

Thank your for your time and knowledge

Cheers

Marc

17

Marc,
I hope and am glad I have helped in some way.
I also hope you enjoy whatever you ultimately decide to do.

I will be here if you need additional assistance.

Chuck

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